architecture

[ ahr-ki-tek-cher ]

noun

1. the profession of designing buildings, open areas, communities, and other artificial constructions and environments, usually with some regard to aesthetic effect. Architecture often includes design or selection of furnishings and decorations, supervision of construction work, and the examination, restoration, or remodeling of existing buildings.
2. the character or style of building:

   the architecture of Paris; Romanesque architecture.

3. the action or process of building; construction.
4. the result or product of architectural work, as a building.
5. buildings collectively.
6. Computers. a fundamental underlying design of computer hardware, software, or both.
7. the structure of anything:

   the architecture of a novel.

architecture

/ ˈɑːkɪˌtɛktʃə /

noun

1. the art and science of designing and superintending the erection of buildings and similar structures
2. a style of building or structure

   Gothic architecture

3. buildings or structures collectively
4. the structure or design of anything

   the architecture of the universe

5. the internal organization of a computer's components with particular reference to the way in which data is transmitted
6. the arrangement of the various devices in a complete computer system or network

Derived Forms

• ˌarchiˈtectural, adjective
• ˌarchiˈtecturally, adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of architecture¹

First recorded in 1555–65; from Middle French, from Latin architectūra; architect, -ure

Example Sentences

In 2019, going by his byline of “Mike Ma,” he self-published a novel called “Harassment Architecture,” which glorifies those lone-wolf acts of terror, picking up on strains of Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, who expressed fears about the future “greenhouse effect” and disavowed modernity and its consumerist culture.

From Salon

The AU Commission worked with the UN and other multilateral organisations to construct an "African peace and security architecture" that ranged from proactive diplomacy to avert looming conflicts through to coordinated mediation efforts and peacekeeping operations, all underpinned by norms and principles enshrined in the UN Charter and the AU Constitutive Act.

From BBC

Working to meet that goal, Soboroff and Johnson had brought in the global architecture firm Gensler to design modular projects at several sites on the campus and the engineering and environmental firm Psomas to assess the sites.

From Los Angeles Times

The attacks described in the COI report and documented since the period studied there by others, like Healthcare Workers Watch, Forensic Architecture, Human Rights Watch, other U.N. bodies and numerous media organizations, don’t just include hospitals.

From Salon

Indeed, Douglass and other black abolitionists condemned slavery’s illiberal architecture by presenting the institution as the limit case for the principles of Christianity and philosophical notions of justice and fairness that might be described as a type of universal morality.

From Salon

Related Words

• building
• construction
• engineering
• planning